IBM's (NYSE:IBM) Cloud Video division has released a survey report on streaming video behavior, conducted to find out what causes viewers to cancel a subscription, share passwords and more. Findings indicate:
- Password sharing isn't as rampant as we thought. While 27% of respondents indicated that they have used someone else's password to test an OTT service, much of the borrowing happens between family members. Some 42% of respondents indicated that they shared with their family, compared to a combined 4% of respondents who share with friends, roommates or anyone who asks.
- When it comes to canceling a streaming service, passive cancellation is a factor: 16% of respondents said that they had lost their subscription because they had received a new credit card and failed to update their billing information. This trend seems to impact 30-44 year olds much more than other age groups, with 28% of that group confirming passive cancellation has happened to them.
- Deliberate cancellation, however, is significantly more common. Some 31% of survey participants said they have cancelled an SVOD service at some point in time. Respondents who stated that their primary service is Hulu or Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are more likely to have cancelled service in the past. Some 40% said they had cancelled one of the former services, vs. 30% for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
- The top factors that impact whether a user will cancel her subscription are too many ads (27%); cost (25%); lack of good content (20%); and technical problems (17%). Buffering (49%) and delayed start (24%) were the most-cited pain points that lead viewers to quit a service.